


So shut your eyes

by araydre



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Fanart, M/M, Nightmares
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-04
Updated: 2018-03-04
Packaged: 2019-03-27 02:20:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 980
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13871037
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/araydre/pseuds/araydre
Summary: When Tony can't sleep he goes looking for a place where he feels safe. He didn't think that Bucky would come home so soon.





	So shut your eyes

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Fancy_Dragonqueen](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fancy_Dragonqueen/gifts).



There was sand in his eyes, sand, sand everywhere, the arc reactor casing pressing on his lungs making it hard to breathe. 

Tony woke with a gasp. No, there was no sand, he was safe in his bedroom, the grittiness under his eyelids was from sleeplessness. Taking a deep breath, Tony rolled out of bed to further shake off the latest nightmare. The ache from the arc reactor remained.  
Coffee, he needed coffee! He got to his feet and shuffled towards the kitchen, Friday helpfully turning on the lights. 

His feet cold on the tiles, he started punching in his request into the fancy machine, but it seemed dead. 

“Sorry, Boss. The machine is off for another six hours, Pepper’s orders.”

“Since when is Pepper the boss around here?”

“Since you made her the CEO, Boss.”

“Right, why did I do that again?” Tony grouched, and grabbed a handful of coffee beans to crunch on, that would get him a bit of a fix, if nothing else. 

“I don’t know, can’t read your mind.”

“Don’t sass me kid.”

“As you say, Boss.”

He started to shuffle towards the elevator, when Friday reminded him, 

“The workshop is on lockdown too.”

Tony groaned, 

“Well, what am I supposed to do then?” It came out more as a whine.

“You are supposed to sleep, your sleep schedule is nonexistent, but you have been up for too long.”

“I can’t sleep, Friday, that is the problem!”

At that Friday was silent. Tony went to pick up a tablet and got to work on proofing SI’s new tech proposals, it was a mind numbing work, maybe that would put him in a mood for sleep.  
The Tower was silent, the team away on various missions each, and Tony left alone with his demons. Usually there was someone awake at all hours, insomniacs and nightmare ridden all of them, someone to share the couch, a terrible movie, and maybe a nap with.  
He would never admit, but Tony missed the companionship. 

About two hours into the work, Tony couldn’t keep his eyes open any more, he did need sleep, but his bed was not welcoming at all. The couch was awkward to occupy alone, so he went in a search of a bed to borrow. Safety was what he needed. The tower was safe, but not enough, someplace secure enough to keep the dreams away.  
In the end he chose Bucky’s bedroom, it was a fortress with a reinforced door, extra locks on the door, the bed in a defensible position where the sleeper could keep his back to the wall.  
Tony curled up in the borrowed bed. It did immediately make him feel better, maybe even ready to face sleep. As he lay there, he took in all details, the softness of the blanket, the fragrances of the strange shower products, the barely there but still identifiable scent of the bed’s owner. That was the last thing he noted, before drifting off.

 

***

Exhausted, he returned to the tower just as dawn was breaking, the gray halflight and the yellow of sodium lamps mixing in an eerie way. As he parked his bike in the underground garage, he mused on how he could never get used to all the doors just opening in front of him and the elevator taking him up without prompting. 

When stepping onto the living floor, Friday’s voice greeted him.

“Welcome home Sergeant, when you enter your rooms, please be very quiet.”

Bucky was immediately on alert, softening his steps and glancing around warily. He was sure Friday would have given a different warning, if anything was truly amiss, but it never hurt to be cautious.  
When he reached his rooms, he checked his weapons and stepped inside. Nothing seemed amiss, other than that his bedroom door stood closed. He tried the handle slowly. Locked. He had to assume someone was in his bedroom, as were his keys. Well, the locks were good, but he was better. 

As he silently picked the locks, he listened for any sound from the inside, but nothing could be heard. Once the door quietly clicked open Bucky peered inside and in the dark of the room he could barely make out a shape lying on his bed. So that was it, Friday showed such caution only where Tony was concerned. Why he was sleeping in Bucky’s bed remained a mystery though.  
Bucky silently snuck into his own room, just to watch the sleeping man for a moment.

He thought about waking him, but knew better than to. Tony was among the insomniacs of the tower, sleep was a rare commodity for him.  
Instead Bucky took off his gear, making sure not to clank and rattle, and considered going to sleep on the living room couch. This was his bed though, and it was large enough. He felt safe here and slept relatively easily, so after a bit of hesitation he crawled into the bed behind Tony and surprisingly soon was asleep.

 

***

Tony woke slowly, surprisingly warm and well rested an undetermined amount of time later. The bedroom was dim, the windows tinted dark.

“Wh’t’s t’ time?”

“The time is 9:14 am, you have slept for a solid five hours, Boss.”

“Urgh, go back to sleep,” said a familiar voice behind him and Tony suddenly noticed being held, that was where the warmth was coming from. He also remembered his last night’s stumble through the tower in search for a sleeping place. 

“Umm, Bucky, hello, when did you get home?” Suddenly he was wide awake and blushing, tough he would furiously deny that. 

“Late, sleep some more and let me too,” was the grumpy reply.

Tony considered getting up and leaving, the embarrassment at being caught pushed him, but this was surprisingly nice, and when Bucky tightened his hold, attempting more sleep didn’t seem so bad.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to [Bill_Longbow](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Bill_Longbow/pseuds/Bill_Longbow) for betaing!


End file.
